The Jharkhand High Court has imposed a Rs. 50,000 penalty on the District Mining Officer (DMO) of Palamu after finding that a truck carrying stone chips was seized without following the prescribed legal procedure. Hearing a petition filed by M/s Singh Merchant, Justice Anand Sen directed that the penalty be recovered from the officer’s salary and paid to the petitioner within one week. The court also ordered the Officer-in-Charge of Chhatarpur police station to release the truck immediately.
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Court Questioned Absence of FIR and Due Process
During the hearing, the Palamu DMO, the Chhatarpur Circle Officer and the Chhatarpur police station in-charge appeared before the court. Justice Sen asked whether any FIR or formal case had been registered in connection with the truck’s seizure. The DMO informed the court that the vehicle had been stopped for alleged violations of mining laws and that an opinion had been sought from the Mining Directorate, along with a seizure report. The court questioned how the truck could be detained without registration of a case, particularly when the petitioner had produced all valid transport documents.
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Court Raised Questions Over Officials’ Conduct
The petitioner’s counsel, Bharat Kumar, argued that the truck had been detained on 20th June 2026 without any valid reason. He submitted that neither a seizure list was provided nor was any legal justification communicated to the owner despite the availability of all necessary documents related to the transportation of stone chips. After examining the records, the court found that mandatory legal procedures had not been followed before the truck was seized.
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Order Forwarded to Senior Government Officials
Making strong observations, the High Court remarked that the incident suggested either a lack of knowledge of the law on the part of the concerned officials or that the action had been taken with mala fide intent. It further observed that such lapses could not be overlooked while exercising statutory powers. Besides directing the immediate release of the truck and imposing the monetary penalty, the court ordered that a copy of its judgment be sent to the Chief Secretary and the Mining Secretary of Jharkhand for further action in accordance with law.
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